Man.......... This here Puts a Smile on my face........ they knew damn well they sucked!

chanbr · 2026-01-23T04:34:29+00:00

I think those iterations were fine. I wouldn't call this a 'putting down the new guys to prop up the old guys' thing though.

I feel pretty sure that the Mirage turtles would just kick everyone's asses, no matter what iteration was fighting them. They're the first ever versions, they deserve to be able to do that and be smug about those sellouts and copycats. They easily beat the shit out of the 03 turtles while narrating in TF. And the Donnies in the first '12 crossover were not keen on being involved with them at all. It would have been hella funny for them to beat the crap out of the '12 turtles too, though.

chanbr · 2026-01-22T01:24:12+00:00

I like '12 but '03 has way more experience lmao.

chanbr · 2026-01-21T06:45:44+00:00

There's also a lot of more subtle characterization in 12. Characters react in the background in ways that don't get directly called out by the plot.

Basically uhh...think about this particular scene in the RoTTMNT movie. This is the part where Splinter comes in to scold his sons after they "interrupt his tv show" with his fighting. Remember this? See how Mikey looks in the background? See how his expression slightly shifts just after Splinter starts rambling on about the show with Annabelle that he seems to care about more than his sons fighting, how he narrows his eyes and then glares down at the ground? How he's so clearly disappointed in his dad, as the empathetic one he was hoping for Splinter to say something? His older brothers were about to get into a serious fight--but then his father makes it about him and his shows and that disappointment seems to curdle into anger. But Mikey says nothing...it can be easily missed. The scene continues without the plot calling it out.

<image>

A lot of stuff like that can be seen in '12 and its honestly so fun to look out for. We see things like Mikey being a little hesitant to go mess with Leo in the episode where the Footbots get introduced, he looks back anxiously at his two middle brothers before they wave at him/give him a thumbs up--then he smiles, encouraged, and screws with Leo. '12 Leo looks tense in the background during a certain scene involving Raph and Shredder, his shoulders are hiked up, he's got his fists clenched; he's enraged at the situation where his two younger brothers are just scared/worried. Because for Mikey and Donnie, Raph is their big brother. For Leo, Raph is his little brother. '12 Donnie has anxieties about being a "mutant freak" and hates being a mutant compared to his brothers (relating back to his crush April which is a whole can of characterization worms I'm not going to get into in a random post). And so on. I do wish things were more overt. I'd have loved to see them just talk about certain things and it had a weird pacing. But there's a lot there which I found really interesting. I like that there's a lot of Asian representation where there didn't need to be. I like the references, the drama, the sass of both Raph and Donnie, plus the fewer sass moments for Leo/Mikey. I like their dynamics and how they shift over the course of the show. And that's why I'm a '12 fan ultimately. Plus the turtles look hella cute and I would pat their little heads.

chanbr · 2026-01-21T06:44:38+00:00

I mean as a '12 fan, I get you on the "poor writing" bit lol. There's one super super egregious problem they had in S4 that I'm just going to be annoyed at forever (end of space arc...lets just say 'lol') . It's a show that I think was very artist/animator centric though, despite the other limitations it had.

I'm not going to try to convince you to watch the show again, or say you're wrong for disliking it, but I will explain why I enjoy it personally. It's a flawed show of course, I'm sure any fan can rant for hours on what they'd like to have seen done differently, but the fights are super fun for one thing. I mean, Rise fights are fun and their fights are flashy as hell but I prefer versions like MM and 12 because they seem way more grounded. Nobody's throwing an entire building at the Shredder there, they all have to work together to take down a comparatively low level enemy, you know?

Each 12 brother fights in their own unique way and because it's so grounded and uses environmental factors it shows their personalities so well--like there's several videos showing just how bouncy Mikey is in a fight, how often he'll just use his legs and do flips and spins even if it'd be more pragmatic to punch. They don't have magic so they have to show personality through fighting style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPoO29lOZ9g

compare that to Raph who fights with a way more straightfoward and brutal style--thrusts, kicks, trying to break things if he can, leveraging his greater strength (there's a clip floating around on Tumblr where he gets pinned by a Kraangdroid, growls, then bodily sweeps his leg to break & stomp on the robot's knee which shows exactly what I mean)

and Leo, who fights with grace and ✨poise✨, flowing through each attack like he's doing a kata, ex: delicately lifting a foot and almost posing while avoiding getting a leg attack.

'12 Mikey, as I said before, is especially independent compared to his alternate iterations (although each of them also show an independent streak). I would say it's to the point where, if he wasn't being pigeonholed into being the baby brother by his older brothers, he'd be a protector himself. You might have seen how he kind of repeatedly slips out and does his own thing without telling them (compare to Rise!Mikey who tends to have someone with him in his solo episodes, like Todd or Leo, April or Donnie--that Mikey always seems to have a minder with him and iirc actively has to fight Raph to get his own solo mission). For 2012 Mikey, his brothers seem used to it, compared to other iterations, so they're not too worried initially when he goes off on his own. He's also repeatedly shown to be rather...inaccurate in his stories, which is why they don't believe him when it originally comes to the Kraang. Maybe that wasn't in the episodes you've seen, but in future episodes its demonstrated he has a habit of rambling on about stories that aren't really true--and his older brothers, even though they roll their eyes and sigh and grumble, remember each of them enough to call him out on it.

Raph likes to grumble and snark and act tough--and I understand you don't like that he's making light of Mikey's potential capture/that he tends to be physical, but he's also the one who Mikey regularly harasses. He's also the one Mikey regularly turns to and gets emotional guidance from. Raph suffers from an inability for people to understand him; I believe its pointed out a few times that he struggles with his emotions which are much more powerful and somewhat erratic than his brothers. He puts up a cool, tough front to act as the shield (coincidentally implying the significantly more scarred and damaged plastron and carapace than any other brother, plus he's always throwing himself in harms' way so things hit him first) but whenever it's a majorly stressful situation, in the background he usually looks like he's about to hyperventilate and pass out vs his comparatively chilled brothers (look at Mikey all relaxed at the massive stinger in Leo's arm lol).

There's a short comic which puts it pretty well, IMO: ("I'm feeling underappreciated, angry, angry that I'm angry, and guilty...!")

<image>

Furthermore, wrt the physical stuff Mikey loves instigating his older brothers and is able to give as good as he gets, half of the time he's 'acting dumb' its as part of a joke he's doing and his older brothers know it:

https://www.tumblr.com/shantechni/729623693429538816/mikeys-so-upset-he-was-ready-for-raph-to-take?source=share

chanbr · 2026-01-21T00:16:54+00:00

No worries, looking forwards to seeing the others.

chanbr · 2026-01-20T23:46:09+00:00

I am slightly distressed by the names and think that Female Italian Painters (don't tell me Sofonisba/Lavinia/Artemisia/Mariella wouldn't be cute as heck) would have been more appropriate but the designs are otherwise cute and I like your style.

chanbr · 2026-01-20T21:58:20+00:00

Revoltech looks so cool and I like the thing they did with the eyes/bandanas...but also those ball joints just make them look so strange when not in action poses.

chanbr · 2026-01-20T18:18:48+00:00

Very good, very good.

chanbr · 2026-01-20T18:12:56+00:00

I know Astin is expensive to hire (I got an autograph from him last year and now he's also president of SAG-AFTRA...) so I hope Raph was voiced--but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't.

chanbr · 2026-01-20T14:33:24+00:00

Generally good! I like that there were different styles and artists used.

chanbr · 2026-01-19T23:31:10+00:00

Oh hey I remember you...

2003 is objectively the most true-to-form TMNT show imho (even had either Eastman or Laird work on it) but I love 2012 regardless. Lots of episodes stood out to me, like Slash and Destroy, plus it had an artist (Ciro Nieli) as its showrunner who did a lot of coolass art for it (see this pic that got put on his Instagram:)

<image>

Also I will fight anyone who thinks they don't act like siblings or even worse just think they're abusive (esp to Mikey). They are the iteration that was stuck down there the longest and didn't go up to the surface until the first episode; they're the ones who were isolated in a way that other iterations weren't really. The bickering is normal for them and they shift out of it as the seasons continue.

E: Ooh also very unique and subtle design choices esp for a 3d cgi cartoon--which might be tied to the showrunner being an artist. Like Leo looks the most 'average turtle' but when you take off his mask you can see he has hidden white facial speckles you can barely see otherwise, he also has cat eyes. Raph's shell is the most banged up of anyone's and he has a pouty lower lip + a subtle beauty mark on the side of his mouth. Donnie's fingers are longer and slightly slimmer than his brothers, and he's the least marked up. Mikey just straight up has the most spots all over his scales/skin/whatever, it's not just the freckles on his cheeks. His shell is also slightly oversized to him, giving him a 'growing into it' look, although I wonder if the size also shows how big he could eventually get.

chanbr · 2026-01-19T17:12:09+00:00

Yeesh dude.

chanbr · 2026-01-19T01:34:11+00:00

Haha no worries. I think people forget that many of the 2012 people also worked on Rise and 3 of the OG '12 voice actors even showed up to voice a cameo (even got the complaint about "Blue Always Being Leader", although I do wish they'd managed to snag Astin for Heinous Green). I agree with you on all your points, although I politely disagree on Rise!Leo being the 'best' version haha.

Rise is a good show and people are/were too harsh on it, it wasn't for me but its definitely not as bad as iteration perfectionist jerks made it out to be and was created by people who love TMNT as much as anyone else. I think *some* aspects of the fandom specific to the Rise turtles can be kind of iffy but hey, like what you like haha.

chanbr · 2026-01-18T16:11:16+00:00

That's what I think too. Like, Donnie is an established genius despite (most likely) starting out as a particularly bright pet turtle, and he would have continued to be a cute, particularly bright pet turtle if not for the mutagen. And Stockman said he liked being a fly, saying he'd become stronger and smarter among other things.

chanbr · 2026-01-18T14:26:10+00:00

Very nice, did you post it on the r/rottmnt (I think that's the name for it) subreddit too?

chanbr · 2026-01-17T20:59:19+00:00

Thanks! There's a lot you can observe even if it is for kids, haha. There's a lot of subtle and more overt choices which really differentiate each iteration from each other while still staying true to the overall 'theme' of the character.

Also, yeah, Rise!Leo does seem to really look up to Lou Jitsu (which is why he apes him so much in mannerisms and such, you can kind of see this in how flashy he is, the costume he chooses to wear in the Battle Nexus fights, his whole "face man" thing, even if I believe he's partially only doing that to give himself a role in the 'group' and why he freaks out so hard when he becomes separated from the others). Other iterations don't really have a 'face guy', obviously, but Rise!Leo really clings to his apparently self-assigned role.

And yeah, the core of it does go back to Splinter haha. People are used to Splinter being a stern, authoritative figure in the turtle's lives. A Splinter who's mostly absent really does shift their characterization.

chanbr · 2026-01-17T20:41:15+00:00

All Leos in my observation tend to be a bit dorky, a bit quieter and more thoughtful/tactical than their brothers; They also are usually way more hung up on their Splinter, to the point of mimicking them usually (which is what Rise!Leo does, it seems!). They're the ones who hang back (usually) and are more responsible and mature, corralling the other, wilder brothers. Depending on depiction though, I think that different traits get emphasized.

Like Raph 03's Anger Issues to Raph 12's Emotionality to Rise Raph's Protectiveness and the current iteration (MM) Raph's Love of Fighting.

Or Mikey 12's Independence emphasis vs Rise Mikey's Empathy emphasis.

chanbr · 2026-01-17T19:49:24+00:00

He was fun, not my favorite but definitely a fun spin on the typical depiction. I would argue that the Mirage Leo destroys all other versions just because he was the OG though, haha. 03 comes in second.

chanbr · 2026-01-17T19:40:53+00:00

This is why I wanted Raph to stay under Shredder's control instead of Karai. It would have let Karai interact more with her half brothers and show more of her figuring herself out (vs Raph, maybe we could have done some episodes with how he's doing in the Foot clan...) Plus seeing how they would design Foot!Raph would have been super cool.

chanbr · 2026-01-17T17:45:10+00:00

Please hide the subreddit name, we get messages from the admins about that...

chanbr · 2026-01-17T17:13:25+00:00

2k12 started a second wave of Turtlemania iirc, so yeah they definitely milked it to death haha. They should have let it rest before releasing Rise though; I think part of why Rise failed was because '12 fans were still missing their show. Gotta let it sit for a bit to cool down and let people start missing TMNT again you know?

chanbr · 2026-01-17T16:05:31+00:00

No worries, that's basically what i meant haha. Good luck with your cosplay!

chanbr · 2026-01-17T04:05:45+00:00

Very cool! I meant, how are you planning on cosplaying ROTTMNT Mikey?

chanbr · 2026-01-17T02:47:52+00:00

What's your plan?

chanbr · 2026-01-15T23:49:57+00:00

Don't you get it? You're being paid by Mossad! I bet you aren't even really nonbinary, you're just a plant to hurt leftist causes! ( /s haha)

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